3 Opposed First-Degree Murder Conviction in Florida Trial, Juror Says

A juror in the Florida trial of a man who fatally shot a teenager in a dispute over loud music said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that three jurors believed the gunman had acted in self-defense, which negated any chance of a first-degree murder conviction.

The jury found Michael Dunn, 47, guilty of three counts of second-degree attempted murder last week for firing into a sport utility vehicle in Jacksonville, Fla., in November 2012, even as it pulled away.

But the jury has been criticized for failing to reach a verdict on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Jordan Davis, 17, one of the four teenagers in the vehicle.

Mr. Dunn, a software developer, was also convicted of one count of shooting into a vehicle after becoming involved in a dispute with the teenagers over the volume of rap music being played in their red Dodge Durango, which was parked next to his car outside a Jacksonville service station convenience store.

Juror No. 4, who asked that her name not be used to protect her identity, told the ABC News program “Nightline” on Tuesday that two jurors had believed from the beginning of deliberations that Mr. Dunn had been justified in shooting Mr. Davis.

The juror, who identified herself as Valerie, said the jury had been instructed to determine whether they thought Mr. Dunn “believed that he had an imminent threat to himself or his fiancée,” who had gone to the convenience store with him.

“That was a thing that those two folks believed: He was frightened, and there was no other option for him in regards to Mr. Davis,” the juror said, referring to the two jurors who initially believed Mr. Dunn had acted in self-defense.

The juror said that the initial vote was 10-2 in favor of a murder conviction, but that after nearly 30 hours of deliberations the two jurors were joined by a third juror, making a deadlock on that count almost inevitable.

Though the shooting had a racial element from the start — Mr. Dunn is white and Mr. Davis was black, as are the other teenagers — the juror said that race was not discussed in the jury room.

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Juror No. 4, interviewed on “Nightline,” said Tuesday that first two jurors, and then three, maintained that Michael Dunn was justified in shooting Jordan Davis.CreditABC News/Nightline

The jury was made up of four white men, four white women, one Hispanic man, two black women and an Asian-American woman. Juror No. 4 is white.

Tamara Rice Lave, an associate professor of law at the University of Miami, said it was difficult to believe that the jury might have come to the same conclusion on the murder count had Mr. Davis and his friends been white.

“I don’t think this would have come out the same way if this had been white preppy kids in a Volvo or some other stereotypical preppy car blasting the Rolling Stones or One Direction,” she said. “Just because they didn’t discuss it doesn’t mean they weren’t thinking that this was a carload of young black men. What this defendant says jibes with what many people think about young black men.”

Juror No. 4 told ABC that she continues to believe that Mr. Dunn should have been convicted of murder.

“A life was taken,” she said. “There is no longer a Jordan Davis, and there is only one reason why that is. The boy was shot and killed for reasons that should not have happened.”

She said Mr. Dunn had a number of options that did not involve violence: “Roll your window up, ignore the taunting, put your car in reverse.”

Though Mr. Dunn said during the trial that Mr. Davis had pointed a shotgun at him, the police found no firearm, and the teenagers who had been with Mr. Davis said that there had been no weapon inside their vehicle. The only shots fired were the 10 rounds discharged from Mr. Dunn’s weapon.

“We looked at a lot of evidence, and myself, it was where the gunshots were — the timing,” said the juror.

Despite their inability to agree about whether Mr. Dunn had acted in self-defense, Juror No. 4 said each juror had determined that Mr. Dunn had been trying to kill the three surviving teenagers, and not defending himself, when he stepped out of his car, crouched into a shooting position, and fired into their S.U.V. as it drove off.

The three other teenagers were not struck. Prosecutors said they plan to retry Mr. Dunn on the first-degree murder charge.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: 3 Held Firm Against First-Degree Murder Conviction in Florida Trial, Juror Says. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe